This is the Read category

A collection of text posts, including Poll Questions, Text Interviews with moddersand Phillip’s Blog. All posts are written to encourage friendly debate and discussion.

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Let the universe decide

Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3

I’m always looking for ways to improve the usability of the site and add new features. One I have been trying to add for a while is a random map or mod.

In the past I had a project site, which required the creation of three screenshots and a new row in a database. It looked pretty but was more work.

I changed the way I wanted this random post presented and finally got my hands dirty with copying and pasting some code. After that it was just a case of fiddling with it until I got what I wanted.

27th December 2011 12 Comments

Poll Question 255 – How good has 2011 been for HL modding?

Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3

With only one week to go before the end of the year, I thought it might be nice to think back over the last year of HL modding.

Now, when I say “HL” I mean all maps and mods related to Half-Life. Hl2 EP2, Portal 2 etc.

This is not a proper retrospective of the year but just a general feel for it.

23rd December 2011 7 Comments

Half-Life Collective Nouns

Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3

Collective nouns are words used to define a group of objects. Although primarily applied to animals, collective nouns can be used for people, inanimate objects, concepts or other things.

It doesn’t take long to find some really interesting ones. So as I sat in the airport lounge again, I started to wonder what the collective noun for zombies was and lo and behold I found this, which is a list of potential words. My favourite is rotting.

20th December 2011 14 Comments

7 Questions I would ask Gabe – The 7 Series

Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3

Okay, so here I am, sitting in an airport lounge, waiting for my flight and Gabe sits down next to me.

Me: “Hey, how you doing?”

Gabe “Good thanks, you?”

Me: “Yeah, not bad. Don’t you just hate it when one minute you are delayed and the next cancelled?”

Gabe: “Don’t get me started!”

Now, as you should have guessed, this didn’t actually happen, but I prefer to imagine it like rather than some formal situation. Who wants to chat to people behind desks and in offices?

So, if I ever do meet Gabe in an airport lounge and it seems suitable, here are the questions I would ask him.

Below each main question are some follow up ones and maybe some explanation.

Now, I know that not that long ago podcast17 interviewed him, and some or all of these questions might have been asked already. If so, oh well.

And before you ask, no I wouldn’t ask when Episode Three is coming. It’s clear that they don’t want to talk about it, and I am cool with that. When they are ready, they will tell us

18th December 2011 13 Comments

Poll Question 254 – A mod becomes truly great when…

Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3

Stole this idea from ModDB (Thanks guys!). Of course, I adapted it slightly for you, but it’s the theme that’s the same.

There’s no doubt that defining a great mod is harder than just picking a few answers in my poll (BTW, you get to choose 3) and it can be hard to even recognize what it was exactly that made you think it was great in the first place. But that doesn’t mean we should think about it!

Personally, I am more interested in how something plays than it looks and new stuff is only good if it helps the gameplay. Same for doing something new.

However, when a mod makes you think about life, than that’s gotta be a great thing. Don’t you think?

16th December 2011 16 Comments

Text Interview with Muddasheep

As part of the Hazardous Half-Quake Quatridual, event, I was due to have an audio interview with Muddasheep.

Unfortunately, due to our schedules, this is currently not possible.

Instead, I sent him some questions, which he kindly answered. Even if I say so myself, it’s an interesting read.

If you have any questions for him, please add them in the comments and he may, and I stress MAY, pop by and answer them.

16th December 2011 13 Comments

7 Console Commands for Players – The 7 Series

Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3

Think using the Console is only for developers? Think again. I contacted a few developers I know and asked for some suggestions that may be fun for players to try out.

I used A Walk in the Park for testing, which is where the screenshots come from. Of course, you can use any Source game or mod you want.

11th December 2011 11 Comments

Steam Wishlists

Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3

This is an off-the-cuff article, that is to say I am basically writing it with no research and no drafts. What you get is the first thing that comes out my head and I am in a hurry!

I love Steam. It’s made my life so much easier. Partly because I hate DVDs or CDs and partly because of all the other features. Sure, there are some things I HATE about it, but everything in life is a compromise.

5th December 2011 14 Comments